Wolves show signs of improvement during spring practices

April 22, 2008|By Ryan Deal, rdeal@aberdeennews.com

The Northern State football team recently puts its finishing touches on the spring football season. The Wolves had 15 team practices and held three inter-squad scrimmages. “I was very pleased. It was a great effort by the guys,” Northern State coach Chris Boden said. “I saw a bunch of improvement and we were able to get a ton of guys a bunch of reps that they were not able to get any in the fall because maybe guys were playing ahead of them. Now this is when they really grow and develop and get a real taste of college football for a lot of them.” Around 50 players participated in the Wolves' spring football practices. Boden said all team unites benefitted from the spring practices. “I saw a ton of improvement everywhere,” Boden said. “That is the goal of the spring is to get better at what you do.” Boden was looking forward to watching all of the players progress during the spring. He was particularly interested in watching the development of quarterback Eric Ellingson and running back Tavis Ve'e. “Tavis, I thought, had an outstanding spring,” Boden said. “We have to keep him healthy and we have got to find a lot of ways to get him the football. He is a special football player.” Ellingson started the final nine games of the season last year and guided the Wolves to a 5-4 record during that span. “I really wanted to see Eric Ellingson,” Boden said, “and see how much carry-over there was from last fall, being his first season getting thrown into the fire and I was very pleased with his spring.” Northern will return several key members from last season's defensive unit. “Coach (Richard) Sweeney and Coach (Ben) Murphy and the whole defensive staff did a tremendous job working together and just developing the core of what we are going to do,” Boden said, “and how we are going to attack people in the fall. They made adjustments well to some of the different adjustments we were doing on offensive. That is a big part of football is adjusting to who you are facing everyday to make yourself more successful.” The Wolves off-season work will continue. Boden added the team is already breaking down their first opponent of the season. NSU will open the regular season on Aug. 28 when it hosts Missouri Western. “We are making progress towards the season,” Boden said. “Summer workouts are being planned and prepared and coach (Derek) Budig will execute those with the players starting in early June and that is what is on the immediate horizon. We are ready for Aug. 6, that is when we are going to report.” Edgar signs with SDSU It was an easy decision for Brock Edgar of Redfield to decide where he wanted to wrestle in college. The senior recently signed a national letter of intent to wrestle for South Dakota State University. “They are the right ag business school that I want to major in and it has a good wrestling program,” Edgar said, “and a lot of kids that I like. It has a great coach (Jason Liles). That is about all I can ask for.” Edgar compiled a 179-17 career record at Redfield, capping his prep career with a perfect 42-0 record - with 33 pins - and Class B state title at 125-pound weight class during his senior season. He also recorded a state runner-up finish as a junior and back-to-back third-place finishes as a freshman and sophomore. Edgar finished second at the 2006 Brute Adidas Nationals and has competed for Team South Dakota at the Disney Duals and in Junior Olympic competition. A member of the National Honor Society and academic all-state honoree, he plans to major in general agriculture. “At the beginning of the year I did not think about wrestling for college or anything and then I came out and had a really good season,” Edgar said, “and I talked to a few coaches and talked to my own coach, Mr. (Fran) Esser. He kind of gave me some advice and I decided if I thought about wrestling I was not going to go Division I, but it just turned out to be like that.” The Jackrabbits have now signed five wrestlers to their program. The other signees include Dustin Walraven, Huron; Nick Flynn, Lansing, Kan., Scott Elliott, Derby, Kan.; and Aaron Pickrel, Watertown. Edgar and Pickrel will be roommates in the fall. “We are going to be wrestling partners and roommates,” Edgar said. “So we are going to end up knowing a lot about each other.” - Sports writer Ryan Deal NFL dreams Danny Woodhead is learning again that when it comes to evaluations of him, football is a game of inches. Forget that Woodhead is the all-time, all-division rushing leader in the college game, with 7,962 yards in four seasons for Division II Chadron State in western Nebraska. What it comes down to for Woodhead are these numbers: 5-7 . That's his height. His size kept him out of the major college ranks, and it might keep him out of next week's NFL draft. NFL personnel men have told Woodhead's agent Chris Gittings that they will pass on the two-time Harlon Hill Trophy winner because he doesn't measure up physically. But Gittings said the general manager who does take a chance on Woodhead as a draft pick or free agent will be glad he did. ''His whole life people have been saying, 'You're too short; you're too light.' He just goes out, performs and proves them wrong,'' said Gittings. Woodhead wasn't invited to February's scouting combine. But he raised eyebrows at his pro day in Lincoln, running the 40-yard dash anywhere from 4.33 to 4.38 seconds, recording a vertical jump of 38 inches and bench-pressing 225 pounds 20 times. Woodhead has been working out in his hometown of North Platte in the weeks leading to the draft. He said he has gained 5 pounds to hit 200 ''or more, depending on the time of day.'' He said two or three NFL teams have interviewed him by phone, but none has asked him to do an individual workout. ''I'm not worried,'' he said. ''I've been passed up enough times. This is not something really new to me. I think I know how to handle it pretty well. All you need is one chance. I'm confident I'll get that chance.'' Gittings said it's frustrating that other small running backs are considered draft prospects, but Woodhead is on the fringe. The agent points out that Rutgers' Ray Rice is 5-foot-8 and 199 pounds. Rice ran a 4.42 in the 40 and had a vertical leap of 31 inches at the combine - short of Woodhead's numbers at his pro day. Michigan's Mike Hart is just under 5-9 and 206; Georgia's Thomas Brown is 5-9 and 204; California's Justin Forsett is 5-8 and 194; and Houston's Anthony Alridge is 5-9 and 170. Of course, those running backs competed against the big football schools. Woodhead rolled up his statistics mostly against the likes of New Mexico Highlands and Mesa State in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which allows programs to fund football for only 28 scholarships, eight under the Division II limit. ''What people usually ask is, 'How many yards would Danny have run for in Division I?''' Gittings said. ''I say, 'Would (Arkansas Heisman Trophy finalist) Darren McFadden have run for 500 yards a game in Division II? No. Would he have run for 300 a game? Probably not. How about 200? I don't know. ''The bottom line is that Danny put up incredible numbers at the level he was at.'' Woodhead said he wouldn't have developed into the player he became if he had come in a different package. ''I'm pretty happy with how I am,'' he said. ''Honestly, I wouldn't want another inch. That would change the way I play. I like hiding behind guys, and I use that to my advantage.'' Pro football people aren't the only ones who knock Woodhead's size. He couldn't even land a scholarship offer from his beloved home state school after he set records in Nebraska's large-division high school ranks. Former Cornhuskers coach Frank Solich, an undersized fullback when he played for the Huskers in the 1960s, didn't think Woodhead was big enough. ''I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hurtful when I didn't get offered a scholarship to Nebraska. At the time, it was,'' Woodhead said. ''There are a lot of people who get passed up. I'm not the only athlete who has. Did I want to go to Nebraska? Of course I did. That definitely was a dream. There's no reason to hold grudges. A lot of people do. That's just not me.'' Now Woodhead's dream is to get an opportunity in the NFL. He said he is intrigued by the notion of perhaps playing on the wider fields of the CFL or in the fast-paced and gimmicky Arena Football League, but he won't allow himself to even call those ''fallbacks'' right now. ''I'm not out there working hard so I can shut up the doubters,'' Woodhead said. ''I'm out there working hard because I want to keep playing.'' - The Associated Press Quickly

Five more state champion wrestlers in the Upper Midwest have signed letters of intent to wrestle for North Dakota State. They are North Dakota champions Tyler Johnson of Bismarck and Kriss McCleary of Napoleon, Minnesota champion Drew Ross of Fergus Falls, and Montana champions Trent Sprenkle of Billings and Tyler Wells of Kalispell. They join North Dakota champion Justin Solberg of Wahpeton, who committed to NDSU during November's early signing period. In addition, head coach Bucky Maughan says four-time Minnesota state qualifier Mark Erickson of Roseau has been accepted for admission and will join the Bison wrestling team.

Former University of South Dakota football standout Stefan Logan has signed a two-year contract with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Logan, who is the all-time leading rusher at the University of South Dakota, will begin preseason workouts with the team on May 28 and is expected to compete for playing time at running back as well as punt and kick returner.

Ellsworth (Minn.) High School standout Cody Schilling has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for the Augustana College men's basketball team. The 6-foot, 5-inch Schilling is the all-time leading scorer in Minnesota boys' basketball history. He finished his career with 3,428 career points. Schilling picked the Vikings over defending Division II national champion Winona State and Northwestern College of Iowa.

The University of South Dakota women's golf team, led by Aberdeen Central graduate Amber Luitjens, finished sixth in the team standings at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic which concluded on Monday in Omaha, Neb. The University of Nebraska-Omaha hosted the tournament. Luitjens, a senior, was sixth after the first round, finished with a score of 177 (86-91) for 18th place among the individual golfers. As a team, USD had a two-round total of 737 (370-367).

Former Britton-Hecla standout and Jamestown College freshman Robert Nelson placed fourth in the discus at the North Dakota State Open recently with a toss of 143-feet. At the Concordia meet Nelson placed fourth in the shot put and sixth in the discus. He also placed fourth in the shot put at the Sioux City Relays with a throw of 46-feet, 3-inches. He also finished ninth at the same meet in the discus with a mark of 137-feet. College Plus is a weekly feature on Tuesdays in the American News during the college sports season. If you have news tips or suggestions, please send an e-mail to jpapendick@aberdeennews.com or call (605) 622-2323.